The Woes of Dysfunction
by LythiaHarpen
Summary: There is a new Endless. Her name is Dysfunction, and she's having a hard enough time settling in as it is without both Morpheus and Desire after her. Trouble is, Morpheus doesn't want her because of Desire...


It was an evening conjured of fog and mystery. It came as an unfortunate side effect to his deepest thought, as he was so meticulously entwined with his realm. Morpheus was ensconced in the throne room of Dreaming. Solitude was with him, cool and quiet, doing nothing to soothe his unease.

He was waiting. Waiting for what, he did not know.

"Hey, boss." There was a flurry of feathers as the raven Matthew dropped down from the ceiling.

Morpheus looked up and frowned. "How did you get in here?"

The raven cocked his head. "You should know by now that I will always stay with you when I can."

The king of dreams sighed; he put his head in his hands. "You should know how I value my aloneness. But I also value your company. You may stay."

Perched on the edge of the dream throne, Matthew shifted, claws undamaging to the polished surface. "Something wrong, boss?"

"Yes."

"Will you tell me?"

Morpheus tilted his head back; a shock of the deepest blue hair fell over his unfathomable expression. "I could not tell you precisely what ails me just yet. All I know is that something is creeping up on me… something that will change everything."

"How do you know?"

Dark eyes fixed on Matthew. The raven tried not to flinch. The question died in the air, having no purpose.

Silence ensued. Matthew shuffled his wings to occupy himself. Morpheus got up and paced. Every now and then he would stop, absently finger the ruby pendant that adorned his chest, before continuing to walk in circles.

For an hour the tension grew in the room. Matthew knew better than to talk to his king while he was in this state. If Morpheus wanted to be alone, then alone he would be.

It was with great surprise, then, that the barriers to the throne room, that kept the room from being sought when Morpheus wished it, were released. The door manifested and with a swirl of his cloak Morpheus turned and walked down the stairs. With haste, Matthew took flight, winging his way after him.

When he was halfway down the stairs, Morpheus stopped, folded his arms, and stared at the door. He was regally attired tonight. A dark blue waistcoat with silver fastenings pressed a sumptuous black shirt to Morpheus's thin body. The high black collar hid the sides of his neck, exposing only the pure white hollow of his throat. Jet-black trousers fell straight to boots of snakeskin. And of course, he was wearing his cloak, which fell in rich folds from his slender shoulders.

There was a knock at the door.

After he bid them enter, Morpheus watched with flashing eyes as the door swung inwards and two people stepped in. One was Lucien, who managed the dream-library; the other was Death, another of the Endless, his older sister. He smiled. Unfolding his arms, he began ascending the steps again.

"To what do I owe the honour?" he said, as he reached them.

"Death brought me here, but she has not told me why." Lucien, the librarian, pulled off his glasses, cleaned them with a kerchief, and then replaced them on his nose.

Hands in pockets, black-outlined eyes agleam, Death half-smiled. Morpheus wondered at her lukewarm greeting.

"I have brought Lucien with me," she said, "to witness an event the likes we have never seen. Quite literally." Taking her hands out of her pockets, she fiddled with her ankh necklace. "Destiny is about to call a meeting. He has informed me that… that there is a new Endless among us."

Morpheus's heart seemed to fall out of his chest cavity. His thin white fingers clenched into fists of disbelief. He was about to speak, but Death cut him off.

"Destiny intends to explain everything. The others are readying themselves for the meeting. We have no time to talk." Her head tilted. "Fare thee well, brother. Lucien, I will take you to Destiny's realm myself." Lucien nodded.

As the two of them walked out, Death looked over her shoulder and winked.

Completely, utterly, shocked, Morpheus swayed on the spot. _How…? _Above him, Matthew flapped his wings, before diving down and perching on his shoulder.

"Another Endless." Morpheus gazed at his hands. "Is it possible? My realm, and the realms of my siblings, could be so easily… recreated?"

"I'm sure it's not that simple." Matthew said. "But we should wait to see what Destiny has to say."

Morpheus bit his lip. "Unfortunately, Matthew, you may not accompany me…" Gently he scooped the bird from his shoulder and held him at eye level. "But if I can confide in you, I will. I trust you."

Big yellow eyes blinked. Matthew dipped his beak. "Then I shall go and see what Meryvn is up to."

He took off, and flew away. Morpheus let his eyes follow the bird's progress out of the cavernous room. Then, he closed his eyes, heard the door close with a clang, and dissolved into the air.

When he reappeared, he was before the great frame. Nostalgia welling in him, he stroked the gilt texture. He remembered the last time the family had met, and fear pricked him. But still he waited for the inevitable call.

The words rebounded in both the air and in his head – "Brother Dream. It is I, Destiny of the Endless who calls you. The family must meet. Come to me."

_Four of the Endless are here, in Destiny's banquet hall, currently. Destiny: silent, grave, grasping the book he is linked to. His hood falls over his face and his composure is absolute. Despair: short, white, rotund, gloomy, patiently awaiting everything else. Delirium: spiky red hair today, many pierced rings, ripped fishnet bodysuit and a torn pettiskirt, she sits, sings and occasionally mumbles to herself, flipping butterflies with her fingers. Death: alabaster white, clad in black, gold ankh gleaming on her chest, hair falling in a night-coloured wave._

_And of course there is Lucien, who looks nervous, bordering on scared. He is here to document this event. A quill, of a feather donated by Matthew, and a ream of paper is set before him on the table._

_All of the Endless do something different while they wait for Desire and for Dream. Delirium is wondering if the new Endless will be somebody she could talk to. Despair is tracking a mortal through a small mirror in front of her. Death is watching Lucien shuffle papers and hopes he will be well. And Destiny… well, we do not know what Destiny thinks._

Morpheus watched all of this for a moment. Then, stepping through the frame, he immediately was overwhelmed by sensation. The dim light of Destiny's realm; the smell that lingers in a library; the sound of Delirium humming.

All eyes, save for those of Destiny, for he was blind, turned to him. Morpheus crossed the space between them in three long strides and seated himself next to Death. She smiled at him nervously; he nodded back. He crossed his arms again, staring at the ceiling.

"Well, what a happy lot we are!" Morpheus's eyes flicked to the frame of Desire as the androgynous entity stepped through from its realm. Dressed today in a male's corset with buckles, suspenders that held up fishnets, and mesh gloves, Desire loped over and sat beside Morpheus. Morpheus masked his irritation.

"Now that we are all present," Destiny proclaimed, his voice soft as ever, "I have to make an announcement which you will already know the source of.

"Some time ago, a new being was spawned in the depths of our very Universe. As Destruction is no longer among us, it was possible, though none of us could have predicted such a thing would happen.

"This being is one of us."

Immediately, unease stirred within the Endless present, apart from Delirium, who was still humming. Morpheus remained impassive, though inside, he was battling with his apprehension.

"Her name is Dysfunction."

Destiny pointed to the wall. Morpheus followed his crooked finger.

There, where Destiny's gallery adorned the plain white, the ghostly outline of a new frame began drawing itself on the wall. Lines and shadows etched themselves in a mesmerizing parallel pattern. Morpheus averted his eyes as a light so intense burned from this frame. He knew what was happening, even though such a thing had never occurred before. Eyes still cast down, he uncrossed his long legs and waited.

There was a shrill whine, and a sudden gust of wind. Morpheus and the other Endless raised their eyes in unison.

What they witnessed was a lone female figure, slumped within the remains of a smoke cloud. Her head was down and her hands on her knees.

_Dysfunction._

Grinning quite broadly, Delirium clambered to her feet and wandered over to the new Endless. Extending a hand clad in fishnet, with no regard for common sense, she said, "Hi! Welcome to Destiny's garden, um, I think this is… yeah, this is home. Well, for Destiny I mean, if you have a home, your home's over there."

For a moment it looked as though Dysfunction would not react to Delirium's presence. Then, slowly, a hand reached up, a hand almost as pale as that of Morpheus. It grasped Delirium's. And the new Endless – now the youngest Endless – rose.

But she was not of their blood, though she was of them. They would call her One, but she was no relation to them. She was a separate entity.

Morpheus was glad he could hide his feelings well. Dysfunction gazed around at her surroundings slowly. Her eyes were as blue a blue as his own hair, wide and framed with lashes. Her face was like that of a goddess, for she had high, curved cheekbones, a small nose, full, round, red lips and arching, dark eyebrows.

Though he tried not to gaze upon her as he would a lover, he could not help himself. Her neck was short but slim and gave way to collarbones carved from white satin to well-formed breasts. Slim arms and graceful hands and small waist and a goddess's curves and long legs – she was intimidating. This was not helped along by what she wore. A small steampunk top hat rested atop wavy locks of dark brown hair. Her lips were painted crimson and her eyes shadowed with white and black. She wore a spiked gauntlet, and a pendant of a snake on a cross. Her attire was a short black dress that tied as a corset at the waist, while the skirt was like a tutu. The skirt had layers of red net underneath. The stockings she wore were of black and white stripes, and she wore boots with an overlarge heel. One of her gloves – no, it was not a glove, for it did not cover her fingers – one armwarmer was of checkered black and red; the other was composed of black and white stripes. This arm yielded the gauntlet, and both were covered in ribbons of black and red and purple, and safety pins of every metal.

Still disbelieving that this was happening, Morpheus ran a definition of the word _Dysfunction_ though his head. _"Failure to show the characteristics accepted as normal."_

With growing curiosity, he watched as Dysfunction studied each one of his siblings in turn. She still held Delirium's hand.

She reached him last, and he could have sworn she looked at him the longest. She dragged her gaze back to Destiny as though seeking permission to speak.

"Welcome, Dysfunction." Destiny bowed his head to her. "Welcome to… this."

"Thank you… I think." Dysfunction looked down, pulling at her skirt with her free hand. She could not do so with the other hand because Delirium was making a snake ring on her finger come to life. As Delirium giggled, Dysfunction smiled, and Morpheus felt a little more relaxed.

Desire grinned at the new arrival, no doubt because of her beauty. Making its glass of wine sing with a finger dipped in liquid, it spoke. "Indeed. Welcome."

And murmurs of welcome continued around the chamber, and Destiny conjured another chair, and Lucien was still writing.

As Dysfunction proceeded to sit between Despair and himself, Morpheus struggled not to notice a rush of a pleasant scent – wildberry tea, and jasmine, and sandalwood incense.

The matters of the Endless state needed to be discussed, and now, everybody was here to discuss them.


End file.
